Not to mention the variety of colors, even in this era, they are far from being extinct. They are produced in almost all roads in the Qi Dynasty, and even in some places, black tigers, white tigers, and blue tigers are extremely rare among the overpopulated tigers. Among the three or four kinds of leopards, there are those guys with great magical powers who don't know how to catch snow leopard cubs that are difficult to catch even after thousands of years.
Simply speaking, the most numerous types of deer are large and small, black and white, and so on. The big one was a moose, and Huang Qiong actually knew it. But Huang Qiong had never seen deer that were as small as a dog. As for the most common cats and dogs, there are even more varieties. Even the officials who sent them over didn’t know what they were about some cats caught in the wild.
The most exaggerated thing was the officials from Guangnan East Road and Huguang South Road. One sent several elephants, and the other sent several rhinos. It wasn't until she saw the rhinos delivered from Huguang South Road that Huang Qiong realized that she had always thought that rhinos that only lived in Africa and Southeast Asia actually existed in ancient China, and there were even many numbers and types.
It's just that this huge animal has been artificially extinct in China because of the horn on its head, which is both a valuable handicraft and a precious medicinal material. At least now, this kind of animal is not uncommon in the mountains along Huguang and Qianzhong Road. These rare birds and animals sent over by the officials below gave Huang Qiong a headache, and she really couldn't laugh or cry.
What's even more ridiculous is the reason those officials gave when they sent it over. Those deer and birds were fine, but the other animals were just too much. Not to mention the child in He Yao's belly, it will take some time to give birth. Even now that the child has been born, the parents dare to let their children play with tigers, leopards, and pythons, or ride rhinos and elephants when they have nothing to do?
I just took in a pair of pandas and a pair of golden monkeys. As a result, those dishonest officials brought so many living creatures to themselves. Just looking at monkeys, there are more than ten kinds of monkeys that I have seen in my previous life and that are now extinct and have never been seen before. There are even a few gibbons, although they are not called that yet. If there were a King Kong gorilla, those officials would probably come too.
The various monkeys sent here are indeed cute. But how can these very intelligent primates be so easy to keep? Suddenly, in addition to the roars of tigers and leopards, there was a group of monkeys wandering around all day long, jumping up and down and flipping around in the entire British palace. Even Wu Ziyu's pocket that Huang Qiong had secretly hidden was dug out by these monkeys with powerful powers.
In desperation, Huang Qiong could only send one kind and sent it to the palace. But where does the emperor have the leisure to play with those monkeys and tigers? What's more, it's just a matter of sending monkeys, deer, and cranes, animals that symbolize longevity, to the palace. But what does it mean when you send a tiger, leopard, and python to the palace? No matter how cute those toys are, are they for the emperor?
He also knew that his ninth son, who was always scheming against others, even his own father, still dared to scheme against him, was really at a disadvantage this time. But because he was always so angry, the emperor, who only wanted to watch a joke this time, faced his son's obvious good intentions and refused directly.
Even in order to avoid this guy, he secretly made a secret for himself. For a long time, Huang Qiong was not even allowed to enter the palace. However, I am not sensitive to tigers, leopards, and monkeys. But I also know that it is a bit outrageous and even illegal for a prince's palace to keep a group of elephants. It happened that several elephants in the palace's ceremonial guard died, so the emperor took those elephants over.
As for the rest, just one attitude: I'm sorry, you can handle it yourself. The emperor's resolute attitude made Huang Qiong almost cry. Once those deer are easy to deal with, the worst case scenario is to release them. If that doesn't work, you can still kill and eat meat. But if those monkeys are released casually, they are not only killing animals, but also harming people. Monkeys are no worse than wild boars in causing damage to crops.
And wouldn't those tigers, leopards, and pythons be more harmful to people if they were released? In desperation, Huang Qiong simply asked King Yong, who had been laughing at him for a long time because of this matter, to take revenge on him for giving him eggs during the Chinese New Year, to find a place on the edge of the city. I personally planned and built a lot of iron cages and wooden cages according to the size of the animals, and even built several rooms for some beasts.
After the work is completed, the animals will be locked up and opened to the people of Jingzhao Mansion. Anyway, he is not trying to make money, he just hopes to recover the cost of feed. Therefore, this is the first zoo in China's history. It charges very cheaply. It only charges two cents per person each time. Children under ten years old can enter for free. There are discounts for buying group tickets as a family.
Although wild animals can be seen almost everywhere in this era, for people who live in isolation due to inconvenient transportation. Go and spend a couple of bucks to see these animals, which you could never see in the past, or you can see them without taking the risk of running into the mountains. They are a kind of rare thing. Besides, there are many types that are not available locally or even heard of.
Although the ticket costs two cents, the price is not expensive compared to the fact that you can see rhinos without going to Huguang South Road. What's more, children under ten years old are free of charge, and if there are more than five people, they can get a 30% discount, making it more cost-effective to travel as a family. Overall, those who can afford it still account for the vast majority of the people in the capital.
In addition, there are those young men in the city who are usually scared to death even if they see a hare, but they are naturally curious and always want to find a new place to recite poems and write poems. There was also no door to go out, and most of the time there was nothing to do except embroidery and convulsions. When I heard that there was such a place, I also wanted to see the strange and charming ladies to cheer me up.
As well as the early publicity in place, Huang Qiong's zoo was packed with people as soon as it opened. In fact, it is not propaganda. During that period, I was flattering the official who was good at the top and would naturally follow the example at the bottom. There are swarms of monkeys in the British palace, and the bark of the trees in the palace is almost eaten away by various deer. Throughout the day, either tigers or leopards roared, and Huang Qiong almost became a big joke in the capital.
China has never done anything quickly in the past, and the fastest thing is the speed at which gossip spreads. It didn't even take three days. The entire Jingzhao Mansion, from the old eunuchs who had lost all their teeth living deep in the palace, to the people begging for food on the street carrying broken bowls, all knew the lively scene of the British Prince's Mansion. Therefore, after Huang Qiong opened such a zoo, almost everyone in the capital came to support it.
Even the emperor, despite his busy schedule, took Huang Qiong's mother to change into casual clothes and pay a private visit incognito. Huang Qiong expressed great satisfaction with his way of enjoying himself with the people. There was even a special order for officials from various places to send some of the animals that were slightly insufficient in number to the capital for the public to visit, to better reflect the scene of heaven and the people enjoying each other.
He was just satisfied, but on the second day after returning to the palace, the emperor neatly stopped Huang Qiong's behavior of collecting tickets. In the imperial edict, the emperor told him that it was okay to show the rare birds and animals to the people. After all, this was considered a kind of fun with the people, but it was absolutely not allowed to collect money. How could a dignified prince, the future heir of the Qi Dynasty whom he had chosen by choice, accept money while enjoying himself with the people?
Huang Qiong almost shed tears on the spot after receiving the imperial edict from the emperor who stopped charging and told himself that he had ordered the local magistrates to re-submit those animals that were not in sufficient numbers. I complained in my heart that I, the emperor, really don’t know how expensive firewood and rice are when I’m not a master. Does he really not know how much it costs every day to feed these birds and beasts?
Not to mention anything else, just the meat that tigers and leopards eat every day is not enough for several pigs. Not to be allowed to charge admission fees, I have invested so much capital in building this zoo, and all the real money I have invested in feeding these animals has been wasted. Looking at the old man's current posture, he will continue to suffer losses.
Although I don’t expect those tickets to pay back, but by charging some ticket money, I can finally invest less, right? With the imperial edict, all my thoughts came to an end. What's even more outrageous is that he actually let those unscrupulous officials continue to send them here. Not only was he unable to turn a loss into a profit, he even continued to expand his losses.
Huang Qiong was bleeding from his pocket, and his heart was also bleeding. After receiving this imperial edict, I have always firmly believed that this is my biological father, and it is purely a conscious attempt to correct myself. Otherwise, if you just stop charging yourself, why doesn't the palace take over? However, Huang Qiong could only suppress all his dissatisfaction because the emperor's decree stated that it was not negotiable.
Of course, these are all things for later. This was something Huang Qiong, who was troubled by those dishonest officials and their even more dishonest methods, couldn't think of. As there are more officials giving New Year gifts, there will naturally be more greeting cards accordingly. For those greeting cards, Huang Qiong only asked the concierge, who had been reprimanded many times by him for repeated mistakes during this period, to copy the names on the greeting cards and send them to the kitchen to light the fire.
However, on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, this time the concierge was much smarter. However, among the numerous greetings, I found some conspicuous and unusual greetings. The greeting note was very straightforward, asking the King of England to meet somewhere. Moreover, apart from an address, the inviter's name was not written on the invitation, but he repeatedly stated that he had something important to present to him.
After receiving this strange invitation, the concierge did not dare to delay and sent it directly to Huang Qiong. Looking at this somewhat incomprehensible greeting card, Huang Qiong, who is now a bold artist, thought about it for a while and decided to check it out. Huang Qiong didn't believe that the person who sent this greeting letter really had something important to present to him.
What he was more interested in was whether the person who sent the greeting message could be the remnant of the King of Shu who stayed in the capital. If it is really the remnants of the King of Shu who want to attack him, then it will undoubtedly be a closer confirmation that the King of Shu is not dead. If he could catch the person in charge, he might also be able to find out the whereabouts of the King of Shu.
As for the other people, apart from the remnants of King Shu who wanted to deal with him, Huang Qiong couldn't think of anyone else who would give him such an inexplicable invitation. At least in his opinion, this greeting card was definitely not a prank by King Yong, let alone another official.
If it was really that official who sent the greetings, those officials who were afraid that they would not know his name and thought of ways to give them New Year gifts would never send greetings anonymously. Although he also thought of another person, looking at the greeting card, Huang Qiong finally shook his head. That person is very stubborn. Now that he has left me, how can he look back so easily?
In order to avoid worrying He Yao, Huang Qiong did not tell them what he was going to do. He only took two guards with him and went to the appointment in a light car. And when Huang Qiong rushed to the courtyard where the greeting was posted, she found that there were only a beautiful middle-aged woman in her forties and a young woman in her twenties waiting for her in the room she was introduced to. Women are a little thin in what they wear in this season.
